Wednesday 21 March 2012 11.58 EDT
First published on Wednesday 21 March 2012 11.58 EDT

Public sector workers Lis Gibbs and Dave Ward have been nervous about the budget, as the married couple from Leicester, in Gibbs' words, "sail pretty close to the wind" when it comes to balancing their monthly outgoings against their incomes.

The couple use their car a lot and were worried about rises in fuel duty. "We have a fairly economical car and it used to cost about £40 to fill it completely," Gibbs says. "Now we still put in £40 but the tank is never full. Instead, Dave and I now cycle to work, which has saved a lot of money by not paying for petrol or parking."

The chancellor announced no change in fuel duty but the couple will find themselves worse off in the next tax year as a previously announced 3p a litre hike in fuel duty from August will still apply.

"That is not good news although obviously we are pleased fuel duty isn't going up any further," Gibbs says.

The couple have two daughters, Alice (16) and Bridget (4), and are paid child benefit for both at £33.70 a week. Both Gibbs and Ward earn about £25,000 each so escape the chancellor's change to child benefit, which, from next year, will mean anyone earning more than £50,000 starts to lose some of their entitlement.

Gibbs says this is a great relief to both of them. "It wasn't clear to us in the run up to the budget whether we would be affected," says Gibbs. "It makes me nervous to think we could ever lose child benefit as it really makes a massive difference to us."

The couple are strict with their finances, drawing up a monthly spreadsheet to work out their budget. One thing that they will not be able to factor in to that for a while is a pay rise. The chancellor announced that public sector pay could be regionalised from as early as April this year. On the plus side, the couple will both benefit from the increase in the income tax personal allowance to £9,205.

"We are pleased about this as it will go some way to making up for things like the loss of tax credits that we face from next month and the lack of a pay rise going forward," Gibbs says. "Overall, even if we are benefiting from the budget it doesn't feel like it. Everything always seems to be going one way and we just expect to lose out."